1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a card cassette device and a card dispensing apparatus using the same and more particularly, to a card cassette device configured to be mountable on the main unit of a predetermined target apparatus, such as a card dispensing apparatus, and that makes sure to prevent loss and theft of cards placed inside of the device to thereby realize a higher security level than before, and a card dispensing apparatus using the card cassette device.
The term “card” used in this specification means widely card-shaped articles, which includes not only card-shaped information storage media (i.e., information storage medium cards) with transparency but also cards or card-shaped articles with transparency and/or information storage function. Concretely speaking, the term “card” includes telephone cards, prepaid cards, character cards, bromides (i.e., photographic printing paper), cards for amusement, magnetic stripe cards (e.g., credit cards and bank cards), IC (Integrated Circuit) cards, cards with bar codes, and sheet-shaped articles made of paper or plastic or the like whose thickness is equivalent to or greater than the thickness of cards of the types as described here.
2. Description of the Related Art
Typically, card dispensing apparatuses are provided with a card cassette device that stores a plurality of cards in a stacked form therein and that dispenses the stacked cards one by one through a card outlet according to the necessity. This card cassette device is configured to be detachably mounted on the main unit of the card dispensing apparatus, and the loading or adding operation of new cards is carried out in the non-mounted state where the card cassette device is dismounted from the main unit. Since the cards stored in the device have a monetary value, there arises a problem if at least part of the cards are lost or stolen during this operation. In addition, there is a danger that a similar problem will occur during the storing, using, and transporting operations of the card cassette device also. For this reason, it is usual for the card cassette device to have a mechanism for inhibiting unauthorized access to the cards stored therein by definitely closing the card outlet in both the mounted state and the non-mounted state.
To enhance the security for the card cassette device of this type, various technologies have ever been developed and proposed. One of such the conventional technologies is the “cassette device for cards” disclosed in Patent Literature (Japanese Patent No. 3858567 issued in September 2006) and another is the “card issuing machine” disclosed in Patent Literature 2 (Japanese Patent No. 4604003 issued in October 2010).
The cassette device for cards disclosed in Patent Literature 1 comprises a structure formed by making the card storing section independent from the main unit of the card dispensing apparatus in the form of a cassette. This cassette device comprises a cassette means for storing a plurality of cards in a stacked form, a gate means for opening and closing the card outlet of the cassette means, a converse-operation preventing means for preventing the converse operation of the gate means in the open state of the gate means, a converse-operation prevention canceling means for canceling the converse-operation preventing means in the open state of the gate means, and a locking means for locking the gate means in the closed state of the gate means.
With the cassette device of Patent Literature 1, while the card outlet is being opened by the gate means, the converse operation, i.e., the closing operation of the card outlet, is prevented by the converse-operation prevention means and the open state of the card outlet is kept unchanged; when the converse operation prevention is canceled by the converse-operation prevention canceling means in the open state, the card outlet can be made closable. Then, when the card outlet is closed, the closed state of the card outlet is locked by the locking means and therefore, the closed state of the card outlet is kept unreleasable. Therefore, even in the state where the cassette device is mounted on the main unit of the card dispensing apparatus and in the state where the cassette device is dismounted from the main unit thereof, any situation where the card may be lost will not occur. Accordingly, card management can be carried out easily and accurately. (See FIGS. 1 to 7, Claim 1, and Paragraphs 0016 to 0029.)
The card issuing machine of Patent Literature 2 comprises a card stacker (a cassette device for cards) for storing a plurality of cards in a stacked form, a hopper on which the cassette device is mounted, and a feeding means for feeding the cards placed in the cassette device one by one. The cassette device comprises a shutter for closing the card outlet when this cassette device is dismounted from the hopper, a supporting plate for supporting the movement of the shutter, and a shutter structure having a regulating means for regulating the movement of the shutter to the open position. The hopper comprises an engaging member that moves the shutter from the closed position to the open position when the cassette device is mounted on the hopper. The regulating means of the shutter structure comprises a first contact member that is moved horizontally due to contact with the oblique face of the engaging member, a first regulating member that prevents the shutter from moving to the open position, and a first biasing member that biases or energizes the first contact member in such a way as to be contacted with the oblique face.
With the card issuing machine of Patent Literature 2, the engaging member and the shutter structure are engaged with each other to thereby open the shutter by simply mounting the card stacker on the hopper. Thus, keys are not required and labors such as extraction and insertion of keys are not spent. Moreover, with this shutter structure, the shutter cannot be opened without using the engaging member that regulates the movement of the first regulation member by abutting this engaging member with the first contact member, card issuing machine is safe from the viewpoint of security. (See FIGS. 1 to 6, Claim 1, and Paragraphs 0008, 0032 to 0041.)
Furthermore, from the viewpoint of security, the card loading operation of a card cassette device must be carried out by a person having a specific authority. For this reason, there is the need to cope with the following application or use.
Specifically, for example, the card loading operation for a card cassette device, which is dismounted from the main unit of a card dispensing apparatus, is performed in the management center and thereafter, the card cassette device thus loaded is transported to the place where the main unit is set up and is mounted on the main unit at that place. In such the application as described here, it is essential to provide a system or mechanism that allows only one previously-designated card cassette device to be mounted on the main unit in question. In other words, the card cassette device and the main unit in question need to have the relationship of one-to-one correspondence.
With the aforementioned cassette device disclosed in Patent Literature 1, both in the mounted state where the cassette device is mounted on the main unit and the non-mounted state where the cassette device is dismounted from the same, the card outlet is kept in the closed state (except for the time when a card dispensing instruction is received). Therefore, the cards are prevented from being lost and stolen. However, this function of preventing the lost and theft of the cards is realized by utilizing a cam means for the gate means. Moreover, the security is ensured by operating the cam means with a knob means in order to make the closed state of the card outlet unreleasable.
In this way, the security of the cassette device of Patent Literature 1 is realized by mechanically limiting the relative rotation or movement among the members that are engaged with each other, such as a bracket plate, a shaft, a cam plate, a pin, and the like. However, in the non-mounted state where the cassette device is dismounted from the main unit, it is particularly easy to apply some treatment or change to the knob means. This means that it is not difficult to break the security to access the cards stored in the cassette device. As a result, it cannot be said that the security level of this cassette device is sufficient.
With the aforementioned card issuing machine disclosed in Patent Literature 2, the shutter is designed to be opened by engaging the shutter structure (which is provided on the cassette device and which includes the shutter, the supporting plate and the regulating means) with the engagement member formed on the hopper. Therefore, the shutter is unable to be opened in the non-mounted state where the cassette device is dismounted from the hopper unless an appropriate member whose shape and size are approximately matched with those of the engaging member is prepared and the member thus prepared is engaged with the shutter structure. However, on the contrary, this means that if a member whose shape and size are approximately matched with those of the engaging member is prepared, the shutter is able to be opened. Accordingly, it cannot be said that the security level of this card issuing machine is sufficient.
Furthermore, to ensure that the card cassette device and the main unit of the card dispensing apparatus have the relationship of one-to-one correspondence, it is desirable to realize a card dispensing apparatus that allows only one designated card cassette device to be mounted on a corresponding main unit of the card dispensing apparatus.